Man Utd sign Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa on five-year deal
Manchester United signed a 5-year contract with Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa.
United have met the £35 million release clause for the 29-year-old midfielder, who helped Belgium reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup.
Tielemans has spent the last three seasons at Villa, having first moved to the Premier League to join Leicester City in 2019.
“It’s hard to express how proud I am to join Manchester United,” he said. “It’s an incredible feeling to sign for such a special club.
“This is the culmination of years of dedication since I first fell in love with football.”
Tielemans, a former team-mate of United’s current first-team coach Jonny Evans, is known for scoring Leicester’s winner against Chelsea in the 2021 FA Cup final and scoring Aston Villa’s winner in the Europa League final against Freiburg in May.
He made his debut for Anderlecht at the age of 16 years and 82 days, and was transferred to Monaco in 2017, just after his 20th birthday.
Although still in his 20s, Tielemans has already made 668 appearances for the club and national team, scoring 79 goals in 578 club appearances.
United’s director of football Jason Wilcox said: “Youri has consistently been one of the Premier League’s most outstanding midfielders over the last seven years.
“He has all the technical qualities, ambition and mentality needed to be successful at Manchester United.
“Youri’s consistency is outstanding and he will add even more composure, creativity and leadership to our squad.”
Last season Tielemans suffered separate calf and ankle problems which limited him to 35 appearances in all competitions for Villa; this was his lowest tally in a season during his time in England.
Belgium scored a memorable 89th-minute equalizer against Senegal at the World Cup and then converted an extra-time winner from the penalty spot for his 15th goal in 90 matches in a 3-2 win.
However, his tournament ended prematurely when he suffered an injury during the warm-up ahead of Belgium’s 2-1 defeat to Spain in the quarter-finals.
